| Black Stork in a Landscape | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Unknown |
| Year | c. 1780 |
| Medium | Watercolor on paper |
| Dimensions | 54.6 cm × 75.6 cm (21.5 in × 29.8 in) |
| Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Black Stork in a Landscape is an 18th-century watercolor painting of a woolly-necked stork. The painting, which is currently in the collection the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was commissioned by Claude Martin as part of a series of 658 ornithological paintings.
The painting depicts a Woolly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), a large wading bird that includes the Indian subcontinent in its range.[1] Done in watercolor on European paper, the work was produced by an unknown Indian artist, in what is known as the Company style. The work is traceable to a series of 658 paintings of birds that the French-born Major-General Claude Martin commissioned for his private collection.[2][3]
The way in which the painting is executed implies that the anonymous author was familiar with the Woolly-necked stork; notably, the stork is shown to be crossing its right foot over its left, the standard posture of a stork.[3]